Hi guys! Happy Friday! 🙂 It is still Friday (it’s currently 11:09 as I type this: I did not use my time wisely today but I still wanted to get this out.)

One of my goals for 2018 is to watch more movies, I don’t care about release dates, just any movie! So with that, this week I’m going to be posting my reviews of The Before trilogy.

Before Sunrise: On his way to Vienna, Jesse meets a young French woman, Celine, on a train; the two strike up a conversation and he convinces her to get off the train. The two explore Vienna together, spending the whole day getting to know each other and inevitably fall in love, making it hard to say goodbye when it comes to the next morning. This film is incredibly cute without being cheesy. The film touches on a lot of tough subjects such as men and women and how each see each other, politically and in life. They speak of relationships and what goes wrong and what goes right. They talk about life and death; it almost gets a little philosophical at times, but that is an enjoyable quality. This film wasn’t so much a cinematically shot film but a story of two people and what love looks like in its purest form. The dialogue is what really makes this film and is it ever brilliant; it’s soul crushing and tugs at its viewer’s heartstrings. The end leaves the viewer wondering if they’ll ever meet again. It’s a subtle ending that can go either way, leaving it open ended for the viewer to think what they want, while also leaving room to create a sequel.

Before Sunset: It’s been ten years and Jesse is a well-known author to a book based on his adventures with Celine. While on a book tour in Europe Celine shows up in Paris and the two spend the day together. They talk about their lives and most importantly their philosophical views of the world. We learn that Jesse is married with a son, but that doesn’t stop how the two still clearly feel about each other. Even though this film takes place 10 years later the two characters connect like they did the first time around. The conversations are more mature and wiser and they surround their lives. The longing that these two characters feel for each other is palpable. The love is so strong, yet the two have separate lives. The way this film is shot is so continuous that it just feels like one long take. The last film had more breaks where they had different scenes in different places, while this one every scene blends into the next. That is what makes this film fly by, it’s not a long film to begin with but it just flies by even faster. This film ends in the same fashion as the last, will see each other again; it’s very open ended with room for more to come with these two.

Before Midnight: Another decade has come and gone; now it’s Jesse and Celine’s last night on their vacation to Greece and things take a slippery slope. The two contemplate, discuss and reflect on all the things that have happened in their lives and wonder if they both have made the proper choices. Now with kids, their lives have changed dramatically. These films have become known for all the walking and big life questions that they pose at one another. These characters aren’t afraid of speaking their minds and it’s refreshing to see. These films aren’t cinematically appealing but the dialogue is wonderfully written, and it’s the writing that carries the plot. This film really dives into showcasing that marriage is in no way perfect; that there is sacrifice involved, maybe not to this extreme extent, but it shows that there is work involved. All three of these films are enjoyable just by dialogue alone. There is no surprise if in the future the creators decide to create another film as this film ends rather abruptly. This time around the viewer feels like they need to know that the two made it through this film, whereas the last two the viewer could take it or leave it.